Evan Ferguson F Brighton b.2004

[tommy_c12000]

Assist (lucky) for 3rd goal

[sbgawa]

spoke to soon , feckin var

[tommy_c12000]

Probably var will disallow it, harsh

[Bottle of Tonic]

The goal is a lovely composed finish. It looks a bit scrappy initially but he actually takes a beautiful touch with the studs to set up the side foot through the keepers legs.

[tetsujin1979]

Second youngest Irish player to score in the Premier league!
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[samhaydenjr]

Wow, under 30 minutes of Premier League football before he gets his first goal - at this rate he'll catch Haaland!

[Diggs246]

Check out his run. He in deep and move quickly into position

[mark12345]

Wow, under 30 minutes of Premier League football before he gets his first goal - at this rate he'll catch Haaland!

Ferguson looks like a prospect alright. Way off topic but he is a team mate of Ferguson's - reading this morning that Alexis MacAllister's heritage goes back to Donabate and a great grandfather who went to Argentina in 1865.

[Eirambler]

Second youngest Irish player to score in the Premier league!
1609273197299470336

Also the youngest Irish born player to score in the Premier League, taking that record from Obafemi I think (Andy Turner, the youngest Irish goalscorer, was born in England).

[Bielsa´s irish]

good taken chance,. he made the WcDEFENDER LOOK LIKE a FOOL ,. Evan is the new Frank Stapleton

[tommy_c12000]

First prem start today, hopefully he does well and establishes himself by seasons end

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Let's go baby! This is exciting. Long way to go but this lad looks good. Afraid of nothing.

[Eirambler]

Must be the youngest Irish starter of a Premier League game in a few years. Did Obafemi start any games at 17/18? Can't think of many others from recent times, Parrott only made sub appearances. Andy O maybe?

[paul_oshea]

Just hit the post. Nice how he held back off the defender and a good effort

[Eirambler]

Very unlucky there, a really good bit of play from him.

[paul_oshea]

Another effort from distance just over the bar.

Everton are really awful. So much space left all over the field

[paul_oshea]

He looks a bit gangly when out of possession chasing defenders, like he's lacking that initial quick spurt of acceleration

[tetsujin1979]

Must be the youngest Irish starter of a Premier League game in a few years. Did Obafemi start any games at 17/18? Can't think of many others from recent times, Parrott only made sub appearances. Andy O maybe?
good question
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[Bielsa´s irish]

got a yellow for a nasty challenge , then he started a riot and threw some hand up, there was a tumult ,. this cat has watched a lot of argentina streetwise material during the WC

[Eirambler]

Interesting, didn't think it would be as long as that. A shame Forde wasn't at that standard in the end, but he's doing well for Wrexham these days. Might see him in season two of their documentary.

[paul_oshea]

Easy finish but I've liked his positioning he keeps hanging off.

[pineapple stu]

Jays. This guy is properly making you sit up and take notice in fairness to him!

Edit - and an assist for the third goal a couple of minutes later.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Frank Stapleton's REVIVAL

[paul_oshea]

Funny when ye said that the time I was laughing. But that's what he's been showing, maybe not a massive goal scorer but a neat finisher with good positioning which we have missed since Robbie Keane

[tetsujin1979]

First Irish player to score in consecutive Premier League games since Callum Robinson in April 2011
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[tommy_c12000]

Great performance by Evan, let’s hope he can keep it up

[SkStu]

Giddy up!!

[tetsujin1979]

Two more stats
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[Bielsa´s irish]

i dont see no problem to let this teenager to lead the line for Ireland with either Parrott or Robinson playing as #10, or Obafemi but Obafemi is like A Connolly they are into the booty business and they are having the time of their lives !! the young and the restless!!!

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Great to see Andrew Moran come on as well but Ferguson could be the one we're looking for! Parrott, Idah, Obefami, at least one of these will come good. We have other forwards with huge potential also. Same story in midfield, defence and in goals. Things are on the up. Ireland to get to the quarter finals of World Cup 2026! You ****ing heard me.

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!!

[elatedscum]

Great to see Andrew Moran come on as well but Ferguson could be the one we're looking for! Parrott, Idah, Obefami, at least one of these will come good. We have other forwards with huge potential also. Same story in midfield, defence and in goals. Things are on the up. Ireland to get to the quarter finals of World Cup 2026! You ****ing heard me.

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!!

Great to see Stephen Kenny use the previous friendlies to blood Ferguson. ?

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Great to see Stephen Kenny use the previous friendlies to blood Ferguson. ?

Stephen Kenny is irrelevant. He's had his chance and failed miserably. From the darkness of the past 2 years, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Evan Ferguson and our other bloomers are there for a competent manager to bring us back the glory days. All aboard!

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!

[Eirambler]

In fairness to Kenny (and I'm not a SK fan by any means) that decision to blood Ferguson in November is looking a lot smarter tonight than it did at the time. He should have done a lot of other things differently in those friendlies, but he got that one right.

[Diggs246]

In fairness to Kenny (and I'm not a SK fan by any means) that decision to blood Ferguson in November is looking a lot smarter tonight than it did at the time. He should have done a lot of other things differently in those friendlies, but he got that one right.

No he didnt!! He brought him on with 13 mins to play v Norway and 1 full minute v malta

[Bielsa´s irish]

for me the SK experiment is over,. he is gonna get replaced by Carsley or someone like him,. i would like Bielsa or Brendan Rodgers,. the best chance since the group of death is blood yungsters,. Kenny is in borrowed time, Ireland will finnish fourth from 5

[Eirambler]

No he didnt!! He brought him on with 13 mins to play v Norway and 1 full minute v malta

At the time I'd have said he shouldn't have been in the squad at all and Hodge should have been there. I still think Hodge should have been there but it was a good decision to bring Ferguson in and give him some minutes in hindsight. Given that he hadn't had much first team involvement at Brighton at that point I think saying now that he should have started him or the like is a bit unfair.

[third policeman]

Great to see Andrew Moran come on as well but Ferguson could be the one we're looking for! Parrott, Idah, Obefami, at least one of these will come good. We have other forwards with huge potential also. Same story in midfield, defence and in goals. Things are on the up. Ireland to get to the quarter finals of World Cup 2026! You ****ing heard me.

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!!

Will be interesting to see whether Moran gets more opportunities. Exactly the kind of creative midfielder we don’t currently have. He’d be a massive asset if he begins to fulfil his potential.

[Stuttgart88]

for me the SK experiment is over,. he is gonna get replaced by Carsley or someone like him,. i would like Bielsa or Brendan Rodgers,. the best chance since the group of death is blood yungsters,. Kenny is in borrowed time, Ireland will finnish fourth from 5I was only thinking this morning that Rodgers' odds of being our next manager must be shortening.

And to add to a post I made yesterday about Idah, Ferguson seems to have that nice knack of being found by an easy enough ball. Idah never seems to.

I wonder if Graham Potter is regretting his move now? BHA's new manager has barely broken stride and they're doing really well.

[Stuttgart88]

Giddy up!!Let's keep things in perspective. It was against Everton.

[ifk101]

Let's keep things in perspective. It was against Everton.

But he did it on a cold rainy night.

[Diggs246]

At the time I'd have said he shouldn't have been in the squad at all and Hodge should have been there. I still think Hodge should have been there but it was a good decision to bring Ferguson in and give him some minutes in hindsight. Given that he hadn't had much first team involvement at Brighton at that point I think saying now that he should have started him or the like is a bit unfair.

Maybe yeah, truth be told Kenny can do no right in my eyes at the moment. thats just where im at mentally !

[JR89]

Biggest positive for me is he knows he's a big lad and uses his physicality well. Was my biggest gripe with Idah that he came across as too timid for a lad that was 6'3.

Coming from a footballing family you hope there's no fear that the lad will become big headed or feel like he's made it once the big contract comes his way.

[paul_oshea]

Brighton fans seem happy with his "habit to be in the right place at the right time" which is exactly what they are looking for at the moment and any perceived lack of pace is not an issue given their style of play.

That's the one thing that stood out for me from the start yesterday, but as I said during the game Everton were awful giving up so much space. Cup game at the weekend hopefully he gets another start and moran gets some game time too.

[elatedscum]

his pace is an interesting point. he's faster than he was a few years ago. will be interesting to see how he looks at 19/20 - right now i think the top speed is pretty good but the first few steps of acceleration aren't as impressive. he can be a little wooden at times, he's tended to get away with it, like he'll take a slightly heavy touch but his feet are quick enough to get the pass away to his teammate before he gets tackled. or he takes a heavy touch but he's strong enough to hold the player off.

His big attributes are his ability to finish well with both feet, his movement, his strength, his reaction speed, his hold up play, his link up play, his self confidence.

- if you look at the side angle for mitoma's goal, his run is perfect, he's always just onside and if mitoma wanted there's an easy pass available to play Ferguson in, he pulls out perfectly at the last second not to crowd the space and to be there for a rebound. you couldn't coach it better.
- for when he hits the post, he takes up an excellent position, reacts to the deflection and finishes first time with his weaker foot.
- for his goal, the run he makes sends coady back and then he drops off. if sarmiento is able to get the ball anywhere past the defender, ferguson is gonna win it, he earns himself a big wide area of space to attack the ball
- for march's goal, he obviously plays it across to march, but the overlapping run is partially what takes Tarkowski out. He points at Ferguson's run to Mykalenko to get him to cover and then slips

he's 18, so he's got so much room to improve if it goes right for him - I remember when he was 16, comparing him to a then 20 year old Erling Braut Haaland if he gained a yard or two of pace, maybe Alan Shearer. you wouldn't want to heap too much pressure on him but that's the best case scenario, an absolute monster. worst case, it's possibly Kevin Doyle, if he overbulks and loses a bit of his mobility and pace as he develops and loses confidence and ends up being a physical hold up man type figure. saying that, probably somewhere in between is the likeliest bet.

watching him in the last week, with his movement, he's not just reacting to mistakes that defenders make, which is something good strikers do, he's actively dictating where defenders go to create space and chances, which is something great strikers do. i saw a press conference where Klopp was talking about Nunez a few weeks ago and he said, the most important thing is he's getting chances. the far bigger concern is when players don't get chances at all. and that's the thing with evan, he's going to get a handful of chances that other strikers wouldn't get just because of his movement.

[tetsujin1979]

Was asked on Twitter who the last Irish player to score in three consecutive Premier League games was?
No prizes
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[pineapple stu]

his pace is an interesting point. he's faster than he was a few years ago.
In fairness, he was 13 a few years back - you'd want to hope he's faster now! :p

Saw a comment on the Brighton forum that they hope he doesn't score twice against Spurs and then vanish after that (a reference to Connolly of course). And of course it's possible, but you do get the feeling that Ferguson is a bit more grounded than Connolly and more likely to make it than any of our other options.

Time will tell of course.

[JR89]

He comes from a footballing family and his dad wouldn't be long bringing him back down to earth if he gets too big for his boots. Brighton fans have nothing to fear about him becoming another Connolly.

[paul_oshea]

his pace is an interesting point. he's faster than he was a few years ago. will be interesting to see how he looks at 19/20 - right now i think the top speed is pretty good but the first few steps of acceleration aren't as impressive. he can be a little wooden at times, he's tended to get away with it, like he'll take a slightly heavy touch but his feet are quick enough to get the pass away to his teammate before he gets tackled. or he takes a heavy touch but he's strong enough to hold the player off.

watching him in the last week, with his movement, he's not just reacting to mistakes that defenders make, which is something good strikers do, he's actively dictating where defenders go to create space and chances, which is something great strikers do. i saw a press conference where Klopp was talking about Nunez a few weeks ago and he said, the most important thing is he's getting chances. the far bigger concern is when players don't get chances at all. and that's the thing with evan, he's going to get a handful of chances that other strikers wouldn't get just because of his movement.

Ya from what I have seen of him the first paragraph above Id agree with, slow spurt definitely seems to be a negative, but if this world cup has shown us anything with the likes of Giroud pace isnt needed depending on the type of game being played. And that's what the Brighton fans I was chatting to said, they dont play counter-attacking breakaway football so they dont require those attributes in their striker.

Also agree with this last parapgrah, but again havent seen enough of him, he pulls away from the space he inevitably goes into, to pull the defender out, then hangs off and goes back into the same area he'd pulled the defender out from. I'm guessing its all instinctive, whether he can do it consistently against better defenders who become more aware of his skillset time will tell. But I've liked what I've seen so far.

[Olé Olé]

his pace is an interesting point. he's faster than he was a few years ago. will be interesting to see how he looks at 19/20 - right now i think the top speed is pretty good but the first few steps of acceleration aren't as impressive. he can be a little wooden at times, he's tended to get away with it, like he'll take a slightly heavy touch but his feet are quick enough to get the pass away to his teammate before he gets tackled. or he takes a heavy touch but he's strong enough to hold the player off.

His big attributes are his ability to finish well with both feet, his movement, his strength, his reaction speed, his hold up play, his link up play, his self confidence.

- if you look at the side angle for mitoma's goal, his run is perfect, he's always just onside and if mitoma wanted there's an easy pass available to play Ferguson in, he pulls out perfectly at the last second not to crowd the space and to be there for a rebound. you couldn't coach it better.
- for when he hits the post, he takes up an excellent position, reacts to the deflection and finishes first time with his weaker foot.
- for his goal, the run he makes sends coady back and then he drops off. if sarmiento is able to get the ball anywhere past the defender, ferguson is gonna win it, he earns himself a big wide area of space to attack the ball
- for march's goal, he obviously plays it across to march, but the overlapping run is partially what takes Tarkowski out. He points at Ferguson's run to Mykalenko to get him to cover and then slips

he's 18, so he's got so much room to improve if it goes right for him - I remember when he was 16, comparing him to a then 20 year old Erling Braut Haaland if he gained a yard or two of pace, maybe Alan Shearer. you wouldn't want to heap too much pressure on him but that's the best case scenario, an absolute monster. worst case, it's possibly Kevin Doyle, if he overbulks and loses a bit of his mobility and pace as he develops and loses confidence and ends up being a physical hold up man type figure. saying that, probably somewhere in between is the likeliest bet.

watching him in the last week, with his movement, he's not just reacting to mistakes that defenders make, which is something good strikers do, he's actively dictating where defenders go to create space and chances, which is something great strikers do. i saw a press conference where Klopp was talking about Nunez a few weeks ago and he said, the most important thing is he's getting chances. the far bigger concern is when players don't get chances at all. and that's the thing with evan, he's going to get a handful of chances that other strikers wouldn't get just because of his movement.

I really enjoyed this, particularly in the context of the screaming that Tarkowski did at Ferguson over his intentional foul on Gueye.

Overall, I think you are articulating well how Ferguson has achieved what he has in the two games. I would also say that the heavy touches you refer to should surely become softer over time as he gets experience and confidence in holding off the very experienced centre halves he has been doing over the past two games. Idah seriously improved his touch and with Ferguson it is surely mental rather than technical or at least he will have the technical capacity to improve.

[Olé Olé]

He comes from a footballing family and his dad wouldn't be long bringing him back down to earth if he gets too big for his boots. Brighton fans have nothing to fear about him becoming another Connolly.

This a very fair point too. Look at Nathan Collins and the grounding he has got from his family. Surely Evan has the same. He comes across very well in interviews too.